This movie opened and died in theaters this weekend, and I can’t really say people that chose to skip it were missing a lot. However, it’s a likable, solidly B-grade dramedy that won’t leave you feeling too ripped off if you’re one of the few who stumbled into a theater before it’s gone in two weeks.
What Works: The marketing focused exclusively on Tina Fey and Paul Rudd teaming up, and most people that have even heard of the movie have no idea what it’s about. It’s based on an acclaimed novel that follows a Princeton admissions staffer (Fey) who makes the tough calls of whether or not applicants get into college. As with all Fey characters, her life is boring and a little overly controlled until twin tornadoes of chaos (Michael Sheen’s boyfriend character leaves her and Paul Rudd arrives) get her to open up a little. If all that sounds a little boring, well, maybe it is, but I’ve never seen a movie deal with college admissions before and that alone is worth some serious originality points. The best sections of the movie deal with this aspect, but…
What Doesn’t Work: …A better movie would have asked you to feel for all the applicants who don’t get in. It’s a fairly heartless process, and the only student we’re asked to feel even a smidgen of empathy for is the teenage son that Fey’s character put up for adoption as a boy. Also, the movie never quite gets into first gear. It’s “low-key” and “charming” but never more than pleasant.
What I Would Have Done Differently: I haven’t read the book, so I have no clue what you even could do differently, but I wonder if a light romantic comedy was really the right tone for a movie like this. I think it might work a little better (and more exciting) if the admissions process were portrayed more dramatically. If Fey’s character had been a little more obsessive and dark (and Steven Soderbergh had directed, changing the tone completely) this could have really been something special.